Messaging App Revitalizes The Chatrooms Of The ’90s

Most social networks are about creating a specific identity, which leads people to curate the list of movies they like, their music tastes, and much more just to give off the right impression. Banter on the other hand, just wants to give you a place where you can dive into conversations about your favorite topics without worrying about how it will be perceived by the rest of the world.

Chat rooms vary from the extremely vague “Cuteness,” all the way through to conversations about the beer choice at SXSW. Each room could be seen as nothing more than a stream of consciousness, all of which disappears after 24 hours. It’s just like talking with friends at a bar, as opposed to formulating the perfect response on Facebook to show all your friends just how smart you are.

Right now the app is fairly unrefined and has a lot of features that don’t add much to the experience, but Banter’s creator, Andrew Busey, is fully aware. He just wants to see what works and what doesn’t before streamlining the app into its final form.
Busey has experience in these matters; 20 years of entrepreneurial experience in fact, which includes inventing iChat, and founding a game company that was eventually sold to Zynga. His guiding principle for Banter, which came out of an interview with The Verge, would seem to be, “Who you are in real life is not important; what really matters is what you’re interested in.”

It’s a refreshing take on digital interaction and the art of conversation in an age when everyone is so concerned with their image. Make sure to download the app if you’re interested in talking about the things you love without having to justify them to the world.